Scientists have unearthed Australia's oldest known crocodile eggshells which may have belonged to drop crocs - creatures that climbed trees to hunt prey below.
The discovery of the 55-million-year-old eggshells was made in a sheep farmer's backyard in Queensland with the findings published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The eggshells belonged to a long-extinct group of crocodiles known as mekosuchines, who lived in inland waters when Australia was part of Antarctica and South America.
Co-author Prof Michael Archer said drop crocs were a bizarre idea but some were perhaps hunting like leopards - dropping out of trees on any unsuspecting thing they fancied for dinner.
Prof Archer, a palaeontologist at the University of New South Wales, stated mekosuchine crocodiles - which could grow to about five metres - were plentiful 55 million years ago, long before their modern saltwater and freshwater cousins arrived in Australia about 3.8 million years ago.
The drop croc eggshells were discovered several decades ago but only recently analyzed with the help of scientists in Spain. Archer reflects on the past, recalling how they began their excavations in Murgon, a small town about 270km north-west of Brisbane. We knocked on the door and asked if we could dig up their backyard... they said 'of course!'. Over decades, the clay pit has revealed numerous fascinating prehistoric treasures, highlighting the rich biodiversity of that period.
The findings not only enhance our knowledge of mekosuchines but also offer a glimpse into ecosystems that existed when dinosaurs roamed, revealing the complex interplay of species cohabitating in ancient environments.
